THE PRIMACY OF PETER PROVED FROM SCRIPTURE
From the very time when our Lord called St. Peter to follow Him, He indicated the dignity to which the Apostle was afterwards to be raised. “Jesus looking upon him said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas (Κηφᾶς, כֵיפָא), which is interpreted Peter” (John 1:42). In the election of the Apostles, and again in their mission, he is mentioned the first; and this surname is expressly spoken of: “He chose twelve of them, whom also He named Apostles; Simon, whom He surnamed Peter, and Andrew his brother, James and John,” etc. (Luke 6:13, 14). “The names of the twelve Apostles are these: the first, Simon (πρῶτος Σίμων), who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother,” etc. (Matt. 10:2; Mark 3:16). And whenever he is named together with any of the other Apostles, he is always named first. Moreover, our Lord always treats him as the leader and representative of the rest, and he in turn always acts as their spokesman. At the raising of Jairus’ daughter “He admitted not any man to follow Him but Peter, and James, and John” (Mark 5:37; Luke 8:51). When He was to be transfigured “He took Peter, and James, and John.… But Peter and they that were with him [Πέτρος καὶ οἱ σὺν αὐτῷ, cf. ‘Peter and they that were with him,’ Luke 8:45; ‘Peter standing with the eleven,’ Acts 2:14; ‘Tell His disciples and Peter,’ Mark 16:7] were heavy with sleep.… Peter saith to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here,” etc. (Luke 9:28–33; Matt. 17:1 sqq.; Mark 9:1 sqq.). So, too, in His agony in the garden, “He taketh Peter, and James, and John with Him.… And He cometh and findeth them sleeping, and He saith to Peter, Simon, sleepest thou? Couldst thou not watch one hour? Watch ye and pray” (Mark 14:33–38; Matt. 26:37–40). “He saw two ships standing by the lake … and going into one of the ships that was Simon’s.… He taught the multitudes out of the ship.… He said to Simon, Launch out into the deep for a draught. And Peter answering, said to Him, Master, we have laboured.… He (Peter) was wholly astonished, and all they that were with him (πάντας τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ) … and so were also James and John.… And Jesus saith to Simon, Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men” (Luke 5:2–10). When the Apostles, seeing our Lord walking upon the sea, were troubled, “Peter, making answer (to our Lord’s assurance, ‘Be of good heart; it is I; fear not’), said, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me to come to Thee upon the waters. And He said, Come. And Peter, going down out of the boat, walked upon the water to come to Jesus” (Matt. 14:22–33). “They that received the didrachmas came to Peter and said to him, Doth not your Master pay the didrachmas?… Jesus said to him.… Go to the sea and cast in a hook, and that fish which shall first come up, take; and when thou hast opened its mouth, thou shalt find a stater: take that and give it to them for Me and thee (ἀντὶ ἐμοῦ καὶ σοῦ)” (Matt. 17:23–26).
II.Not content with these repeated indications of Peter’s pre-eminence, our Lord on three several occasions spoke of it in such express terms as to leave no possibility of doubt.
1. The first of these is recorded by St. Matthew (16:13–19; cf. Mark 8:27, 28; Luke 9:18–20). It was during the last period of our Lord’s ministry, when He devoted Himself especially to the training of His Apostles. They had now recognized Him as the Messias; but they still had worldly notions of the kingdom which He came to found. Henceforth His aim was to correct their false notions, and to prepare them for His passion and death. Taking occasion of the absence of the multitudes, He asked them, “Whom do men say that the Son of Man is?” And after receiving their various answers, He continued, “Whom do you say that I am?” Peter at once replied, “Thou art Christ, the Son of the Living God” (cf. John 6:67–71). “And Jesus answering, said to him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona, because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My Father Who is in heaven. And I say to thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.”
(a) On this solemn occasion our Lord addresses St. Peter by his own proper name, “Simon, son of John;” as He likewise did when He entrusted to his care the lambs and the sheep of His flock (John 21:15–17). He does so to bring out more clearly the dignity to which the Apostle was to be raised, and which was indicated by the surname imposed upon him. “As My Father hath manifested to thee My Godhead, so do I make known to thee thy pre-eminence (excellentiam)” (St. Leo, Serm. iv. 2). In former times considerable stress was laid by Protestants upon the difference of gender in the words Πέτρος, πέτρα But our Lord spoke Aramaic, and in that language the same word kepha is used in both places. The metaphor which He makes use of is plain enough. Christ, the Master Builder, is about to found His Church, the house of God (“You are God’s building,” 1 Cor. 3:9); and in order that it may be able to withstand the tempests by which it will be assailed, He, like the wise man, determines to found it upon a rock (Matt. 7:24). That rock is Simon, who henceforth is to be called Rock, because on him the Church is to be built. “Thou art Rock, and on this rock (that is, on thee) I will build My Church.” And it is Peter, not the other Apostles, who is to be this Rock: “I say to thee, thou art Peter,” etc. Now, the foundation is that which gives a building its strength and stability; which holds the parts together; outside of which any part will collapse. Hence it is from Peter that the Church derives her strength and stability: he it is who keeps all her members together; and all who cleave not to him will perish. It is not simply Peter’s confession that is the Rock of the Church, but Peter’s authority; for it is authority which is the basis which holds a moral building or society together.
(b) Inasmuch as the Church is to be built upon Simon Peter as a secure foundation, “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (πύλαι ᾅδου οὐ κατισχύσουσιν αὐτης).” Whether we understand the word “hell” (Αἵδης, שְׁאוֹל) as the abode of the demons and the damned, or simply as the realm of death, the meaning of the passage is much the same (§ 203). The powers of darkness or death shall not be able to destroy the Church built on the rock. Hell may do its worst; death, the conqueror of all else, may strive its utmost; the Church of Christ shall withstand all their attacks, and last for ever.
(c) Simon is to be not only the foundation of the Church; he is also to have complete control and jurisdiction over it: “To thee will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” We have already seen (supra, p. 292) that “the kingdom of heaven” is used to denote the Church, Christ’s spiritual, heavenly kingdom here on earth. “The keys” is a common Oriental expression for control: as “the gates” denote power, so “the keys of the gates” denote control of this power. “I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder; and he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open” (Isa. 22:22), where Eliacim is appointed over the palace in the stead of Sobna. “I am the first and the last … and have the keys of death and of hell” (Apoc. 1:18). “The holy one and the true one, he that hath the key of David: he that openeth, and no man shutteth; shutteth, and no man openeth” (ibid. 3:7). Hence, Christ, by giving Peter the keys, makes him his vicar and representative: delegates to him the power which He Himself possesses.
(d) This jurisdiction is further denoted by the words, “Whatsoever thou shalt bind,” etc. Binding and loosing signify, in Rabbinical language, “prohibition and permission,” with reference to the various questions submitted to the Rabbis for solution. Hence, it here means much the same as the power of the keys, but with special reference to teaching authority; and Christ promises that the exercise of this authority shall be ratified in heaven—a proof that it must be infallible.
2. Among the warnings given to the Apostles at His Last Supper, there was one especially addressed to Peter, but having reference to the others as well: “Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you [ὑμᾶς, plural = you Apostles], that he might sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for thee [σοῦ, singular = thee, Peter], that thy faith fail not; and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren” (Luke 22:31, 32). “The danger from the trial of fear was common to all the Apostles, and they stood equally in need of the aid of the Divine protection … and yet of Peter special care is taken by the Lord, and for the faith of Peter in particular does He pray, as though the condition of the rest would be more secure, provided the mind of their chief were not subdued. In Peter, therefore, is the strength of all defended, and the aid of Divine grace is so disposed as that the firmness which is bestowed upon Peter by Christ may be conferred by Peter on the Apostles (Ut firmitas quæ per Christum Petro tribuitur, per Petrum apostolis conferatur).” (St. Leo, Serm. iv., in Natal. Ordin., c. 3)
Our Lord tells St. Peter that Satan has asked and obtained (ἐξῃτήσατο) permission to put the Apostles to trial, as he did of old the patriarch Job. As in that former case, so also here, God will prove and purify those whom Satan intended to vex and destroy. To defeat the machinations of the Evil One, Christ prays, not for all, but for Peter, the Man of Rock, and it is Peter who is then to strengthen the rest of his brethren. “And thou being once converted (ἐπιστρέψας, when thou hast turned to Me from thy sin, or, do thou in thy turn) confirm thy brethren.” “This whole speech of our Lord,” says Bengel, “presupposes that Peter is the first of the Apostles, on whose stability or fall the less or greater danger of the others depended.” Not that Peter’s need was greater than theirs, but that their faith depended upon his. Just as the Church is “the pillar and ground of the truth (στῦλος καὶ ἑδραίωμα τῆς ἀληθείας)” (1 Tim. 3:15); in like manner Peter is the strengthener (ὁ στηρίζων) or foundation (τὸ στήριγμα) of the faith (i.e. the truth) of his brethren (the Church); and so the Church is the pillar of the truth, because it rests upon Peter, its foundation. Hence it is clear that the promise here made to Simon corresponds with that already made to him at Cæsarea Philippi. Here it is Satan who is to attack: there it is “the gates of Hell;” here Simon is the strengthener of his brethren: there he is the rock of the Church; here the brethren shall be safe against Satan, because they are strengthened by Simon: there the gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church, because it is founded upon the Man of Rock. See Palmieri, l.c, p. 287. 3. After the Resurrection our Lord fulfilled these promises by actually conferring upon Peter the primacy over His Church. “Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon. son of John [cf. βαριῶνα, Matt. 16:17], lovest thou (ἀγαπᾳς) Me more than these? He saith to Him, Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love (φιλῶ) Thee. He saith to him, Feed My lambs (βόσκε τὰ ἀρνία μου). He saith to him again, Simon, son of John, lovest thou (ἀγαπᾳς) Me? He saith to him, Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love (φιλῶ) Thee. He saith to him, Feed My lambs (ποίμαινε τα πρόβατα, al. προβάτια). He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, lovest thou (φιλεῖς) Me? Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, Lovest thou Me? And he said to Him, Lord, Thou knowest all things: Thou knowest that I love (φιλῶ) Thee. He said to him, Feed My sheep (βόσκε τὰ προβάτα, al. προβάτια)” (John 21:15–17). Our Lord’s object is not to reinstate St. Peter in the Apostleship; for this, if needed, had already been done to him as well as to the others: “As the Father hath sent Me, I also send you” (John 20:21). Here it is a question of conferring a special charge upon Peter as distinct from his brethren. The threefold question is directed to give him an opportunity of a threefold profession of love to atone for his threefold denial; and the threefold charge is intended to express the plenitude of the charge entrusted to him—he is made to be the shepherd of the whole flock. We have already seen that the flock is the Church, and that Christ is its Chief Shepherd (p. 294). The powers which He possess He here clearly delegates to Peter.
III. To understand more fully that Christ made St. Peter His vicar and representative, we must bear in mind that the above-mentioned titles and offices conferred upon the Apostle are those very titles and offices foretold of the Messiah by the Prophets, claimed by our Lord for Himself, and attributed to Him in the Acts and Epistles.
1. “The rock was Christ” (1 Cor. 10:4). He is “the stone which the builders rejected,” but which “became the head of the corner” (Matt. 21:42; Ps. 117:27; Acts 4:11). “The chief corner-stone, in Whom all the building being framed together, groweth up into a holy temple in the Lord: in Whom also you are built together into a habitation of God in the Spirit” (Eph. 2:20, 22). “Unto Whom (the Lord) coming as to a living stone … be ye also as living stones built up, a spiritual house.… Wherefore it is said in the Scriptures: Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner-stone, elect, precious. And he that shall believe in Him shall not be confounded, a stone of stumbling, and a rock of scandal (πέτρα σκανδάλου)” (1 Pet. 2:4–8; Isa. 28:16; Rom. 9:33). “Whosoever shall fall upon this stone shall be broken: but upon whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder” (Matt. 21:44). “Other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus” (1 Cor. 3:10). If it be objected that these texts exclude St. Peter, we reply with St. Leo (Serm, iv., In Nat. Ord., c. 2), “Thou art Peter: that is, whereas I (Christ) am the inviolable Rock; I that chief corner-stone; I Who make both one; I the Foundation besides which no man can lay another; nevertheless, thou also art a rock, because thou art consolidated by My power, that what things belong to Me (or are peculiar to Me) by My power, may be common to thee and Me by participation of them with Me (tu quoque petra es, quia mea virtute solidaris ut quæ mihi potestate sunt propria, sint tibi mecum participatione communia).” And Theophylact calls Peter “the Rock and Foundation after Christ (Σοὶ ὡς μετʼ ἐμὲ ὄντι τῆς ἐκκλησίας πέτρᾳ καὶ στηρίγματι)” (In Lucam, c. xxii.). “The most firm rock, which from that principal Rock received a participation of His virtue and name” (St. Prosper of Acquitaine, De Vocat. Gent., lib. ii. c. 28).
2. So, too, Christ, “the First and the Last,” holds “the keys of life and death” (Apoc. 1:18); He is “the holy one and the true one; He that hath the key of David; He that openeth, and no man shutteth; shutteth, and no man openeth” (ibid. 3:7). “And I will give the key of David upon His shoulder (cf. ‘the government is upon His shoulder,’ Isa. 9:6); and He shall open, and none shall shut; and He shall shut, and none shall open” (Isa. 22:22; cf. Job 12:14).
3. He is “the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11), the Messiah in His best known and most loving office. “I will set up one Shepherd over them, and He shall feed them … and He shall be their Shepherd” (Ezech. 34:23; cf. 11–16; 37:24). “He shall feed His flock like a Shepherd; He shall gather together the lambs with His arm, and shall take them up in His bosom, and He Himself shall carry them that are with young” (Isa. 40:11). “For you were as sheep going astray; but you are now converted to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls” (1 Pet. 2:25).
IV. After our Lord’s Ascension we find, as might be expected, that St. Peter at once steps into the place and office to which he had been appointed. Where formerly we read of “the twelve,” now we read of “Peter with the eleven (ὁ Πέτρος σὺν τοῖς ἕνδεκα);” “Peter and the rest of the Apostles (τὸν Πέτρον καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἀποστόλους).” He it is who presides at the election of one to take the place of the traitor Judas (Acts 1:15 sqq.); he is the first, and indeed the only one, to preach and instruct on Pentecost Day; he is the first to exercise the miraculous powers promised to the Church: “Peter, with John, fastening his eyes upon him (the lame man), said, Look upon us (ἀτενίσας δὲ Πέτρος εἰς αὐτὸν σὺν τῷ Ἰωάννῃ εἶπεν, κ. τ. λ.) … But he looked earnestly upon them, hoping that he should receive something of them. But Peter said, Silver and gold I have none; but what I have I give thee: In the Name of Jesus,” etc. (ibid. 3:4–6). Again, he alone addresses the people (ibid. 12–26). When he and John are the first to be arrested, it is he who defends the action of the Apostles and preaches the Name of Jesus (ibid. 4:1–22). In the story of Ananias and Saphira, although all the Apostles are concerned, it is Peter alone who examines and delivers judgment on the unhappy couple. Ananias, “bringing a certain part of it [the price], laid it at the feet of the Apostles. But Peter said,” etc. (ibid. 5:1–10). Though afterwards “by the hands of the Apostles were many signs and wonders wrought,” yet “the multitude brought forth the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that when Peter came his shadow at the least might overshadow any of them, and they might be delivered from their infirmities” (ibid. 12–15). When the High Priest summoned the Apostles before him and forbade them to preach, “Peter and the Apostles answering, said, We ought to obey God rather than men” (5:29). When the Gospel was preached in Samaria, Peter was sent with John to confirm the new converts, and again takes the leading part (8:14–25). Later on, when “the Church had peace throughout all Judæa and Galilee and Samaria … it came to pass that Peter, as he passed through visiting all (διερχόμενον διὰ πάντων), came to the saints who dwelt at Lydda” (ibid. 9:31, 32). “Like a general, he went round surveying the ranks, seeing what portion was well massed together, what in order, what needed his presence. Behold him making his rounds in every direction,” etc. (Chrysost., In Act., Hom. xxi. n. 2). Furthermore, he is the first to take the great step of receiving the Gentiles into the Church (Acts 10). When James, the brother of John, one of the three greater Apostles, was put to death by Herod, and when Paul long afterwards was imprisoned, nothing is said of the Church’s anxiety at their arrest, or prayers for their deliverance. But when Peter “was kept in prison, prayer was made without ceasing by the Church unto God for him (προσευχὴ δὲ ἦν ἐκτενῶς γινομένη ὑπὸ τῆς ἐκκησίας πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν περὶ αὐτοῦ)” (ibid. 12:1–5). When dissension threatened the unity of the Church, and when “the Apostles and ancients assembled to consider of this matter, and when there had been much disputing, Peter, rising up, said to them, Men, brethren, you know that in former days God made choice among us that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel,” etc. As soon as he had spoken, “all the multitude held their peace,” and the subsequent decree of the council was in accordance with his decision. “Peter,” says St. Jerome, “spoke with his wonted freedom, and the Apostle James followed his sentence, and all the ancients at once acceded to it” (Ep. 75, Inter August, n. 7).
V. The personal infallibility of each of the Apostles (“When he, the Spirit of truth is come, He will teach you all truth”) and the universality of their jurisdiction (“teach ye all nations”) rendered the exercise of St. Peter’s peculiar prerogatives less manifest, and gave the Apostles a position with regard to him which could not be held by their successors with regard to his successors (see infra, § 239). This was especially so in St. Paul’s case. The attacks made upon his authority on the ground that he was not one of the original Twelve, required him to take every occasion of magnifying his own apostolic office. Nevertheless, we find in his Epistles passages which clearly indicate his recognition of Peter’s supremacy. “I went to Jerusalem to see Peter (ἱστορῆσαι Κηφᾶν, ‘to make the acquaintance of, to interview Cephas’), and I tarried with him fifteen days; but other of the Apostles I saw none, saving James, the brother of the Lord” (Gal. 1:18, 19). “After so many great deeds,” says St. Chrysostom (in h. 1.), “needing nothing of Peter nor of his instruction, but being his equal in rank (ἰσότιμος), for I will say no more here, still he goes up to him as to the greater and elder (πρὸς μείζονα καὶ πρεσβύτερον).… He went but for this alone, to see him and honour him by his presence. He says, I went up to visit Peter. He did not say, to see Peter, but to visit Peter (οὐκ εἶπεν, ἰδεῖν Πέτρον, ἀλλʼ ἱστορῆσαι Πέτρον), as they say in becoming acquainted with great and illustrious cities. So much pains he thought it worth only to see the man.… For he honours the man, and loves him more than all (τιμᾷ τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ φιλεῖ μᾶλλον πάντων): for he says that he came up for none (διὰ οὐδένα) of the Apostles save him.” Four times does he mention St. Peter in his First Epistle to the Corinthians: twice where he gives him the place of honour (Paul, Apollo, Cephas, Christ; 1:12; 3:22, 23); and twice where he singles him out by name, the rest being spoken of in a body (9:5; 15:5). True, in Gal. 2:9 the order is “James, and Cephas, and John;” but here he is speaking of the three as Apostles, and asserting his equality with them as such. And the division of labour which is there spoken of (“To me was committed the gospel of the uncircumcision, as to Peter was that of the circumcision”) is not opposed to Peter’s primacy. “For, as a mark of his excellence, Christ Himself, Who came to save all men, with Whom there is no distinction of Jew and Greek, was yet called ‘Minister of the circumcision’ by Paul (Rom. 15:8), a title of dignity according to Paul’s own words, for theirs was ‘the adoption of children, and the glory and the testament, and the giving of the Law, and the service of God, and the promises,’ while ‘the Gentiles praise God for His mercy.’ But just as Christ our Lord was so called Minister of the circumcision, in such sense as yet to be the Pastor and Saviour of all, so Peter, too, was called the minister of the circumcision, in such sense as yet to be by the Lord constituted (Acts 9:32) pastor and ruler of the whole flock. Whence St. Leo, ‘Out of the whole world Peter alone is chosen to preside over the calling of all the Gentiles, and over all the Apostles, and the collected Fathers of the Church, so that though there be among the people of God many priests and many shepherds, yet Peter rules all by immediate commission, whom Christ also rules by sovereign power’ “ (Baronius, Ann., A.D. 51, sect. 29; St. Leo, Serm. iv.).
There is another famous passage in this same Epistle which is often quoted against St. Peter’s primacy. “When Cephas was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed (κατὰ πρόσωπον αὐτῷ ἀντέστην, ὅτι κατεγνωσμένος ἦν). For before that some came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles; but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them who were of the circumcision. And to his dissimulation the rest of the Jews consented (συνυπεκρίθησαν αὐτῷ καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ Ἰουδαῖοι), so that Barnabas also was led by them into that dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not uprightly unto the truth of the Gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of the Gentiles and not as the Jews do, how dost thou compel the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?” (Gal. 2:11–14). Peter’s conduct was in no way an error against the faith. He had been the first to receive the Gentiles (Acts 10, 11), and he distinctly taught that the Law was no longer binding (ibid. 15:7 sqq.). In his anxiety, however, to conciliate the Jews, whom he had lately taken under his special charge (Gal. 2:9), he lived as a Jew. On the other hand, St. Paul, to whom the Gentiles were entrusted, rightly feared that the example of Cephas (the Man of Rock, on whom Christ had built His Church) might be quoted to prove the necessity of observing the Law, and therefore he strongly protested against such conduct. Nevertheless, we find him shortly afterwards circumcising Timothy “because of the Jews that were in those places” (Acts 16:3). The Fathers who comment on the story of the dissension, however they may differ in their interpretation, are anxious to uphold Peter’s dignity, and admire his humility in submitting to be rebuked, rather than Paul’s freedom in rebuking him. “Peter gave to posterity a rarer and a holier example—that they should not disdain, if perchance they left the right track, to be corrected even by their youngers—than Paul: that even inferiors might confidently venture to resist superiors, maintaining brotherly charity, in the defence of evangelical truth.… Much more wonderful and praiseworthy is it willingly to accept correction than boldly to correct deviation. Paul, then, has the praise of just liberty, and Peter of holy humility” (St. August., Ep. lxxxii. n. 22). See also Estius’s excellent commentary on Galatians ii.