Part 8 (1/2)

It is then to be remarked that Peter is the _only_ Apostle who is put in this relation to the rest. _Never_ is it said ”James,” or ”John and the rest of the Apostles,” or, ”and those with him.” Peter is named, and the rest are added in a ma.s.s, and this happens in his case continually, never in the case of any other Apostle.

No adequate cause can be alleged for this but the Primacy and superior rank of Peter, which was ever in the mind of the Evangelists, and is sometimes indicated by the prophetic name; for as often as Simon is called Peter, he is marked as the foundation of the Church, according to the Lord's prophecy. And long before contentions about the prerogatives of Peter arose, the ancient Fathers attributed it to his Primacy, that he was thus named expressly and first, the others in a ma.s.s, or in the second place.

According, then, to the rule above-mentioned, Peter, by the mode in which the Evangelists speak of him, is distinguished from the other Apostles, and his position with regard to the rest is described in the very same phrase which is used to express the superiority of David over his men, and even of our Lord over the Twelve. And for this there seems no adequate cause, but that special a.s.sociation of Peter with Himself indicated in the name, and the promises accompanying it in Matt. xvi.

2. Again, four[2] catalogues of the Apostles exist,[3] and in each of these Peter is placed first. And in the three which occur in the Gospels, (that of Luke in the Acts being a more brief repet.i.tion of his former one,) the prophetic name Peter is indicated as the reason for his being thus placed first. So Mark. ”And to Simon He gave the name Peter. And James the son of Zebedy, and John the brother of James; and He named them Boanerges, which is, the sons of thunder:”

for which reason, that the Lord had given them a name, though it was held in common, and not, like that of Peter, expressive of official rank, but personal qualities, Mark seems to set these two before Andrew, whom both in Matthew and in Luke they follow. Again, Luke says, ”He chose twelve of them, whom also He named Apostles, Simon whom He surnamed Peter, and Andrew his brother,” &c. ”_The first_ of all, and the chief of them, he that was illiterate and uneducated,”

says S. Chrysostome;[4] and Origen long before him, observing that Peter was always named first in the number of the twelve, asks, What should be thought the cause of this order? He replies, it was constantly observed because Peter was ”more honoured than the rest,” thus intimating that he no less excelled the rest on account of the gifts which he had received from heaven, than ”Judas through his wretched disposition was truly the last of all, and worthy to be put at the end.”[5] But much more marked is Matthew in signifying the superior dignity of Peter, not only naming him at the head in his catalogue, but calling him simply and absolutely ”the first.”

”And the names of the twelve Apostles are these, The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, James,” &c. Now that _second_ and _third_ do not follow, shows that ”first” is not a numeral here, but designates rank and pre-eminence. Thus in heathen authors this word ”first” by itself indicates the most excellent in its kind: thus in the Septuagint occur, ”first friend of the king,”

”first of the singers,” ”the first priest,”[6] i.e. the chief priest. So our Lord, ”whichever among you will be first;” ”Bring forth the first robe;” and S. Paul, ”sinners, of whom I am first,”[7] i.e. chief. Thus ”the first of the island,” Acts, xxviii.

7, means the chief magistrate; and ”first” generally in Latin phraseology, the superior, or prince.

Such, then, is the rank which Matthew gives to Peter, when he writes, ”the first, Simon, who is called Peter.”

It should also be remarked that, whenever the Evangelists have occasion to mention _some_ of the Apostles, Peter being one, he is ever put first. Thus Matt., ”He taketh unto Him Peter, and James, and John his brother;” and Mark, ”He admitted not any man to follow Him, but Peter, and James, and John, the brother of James:” and ”Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew asked Him apart:” and ”He taketh Peter, and James, and John with Him:” and Luke, ”He suffered not any man to go in with him, but Peter, and James, and John, and the father and mother of the maiden:” and ”He sent Peter and John:”

and John, ”There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas, who is called Didymus, and Nathaniel, who was of Cana in Galilee, and the two sons of Zebedy, and two others of His disciples.”[8] This rule would seem to be invariable, though James and John are not always mentioned next after him.

An attempt has been made to evade the force of these testimonies, by giving as a reason for Peter being always thus named first, that he was the most aged of all the Apostles, and the first called. Even were it so, such reasons would seem most inadequate, but unfortunately they are neither of them facts. For as to age, antiquity bears witness that Andrew was Peter's elder brother. And as to their calling, S. Augustine has observed, ”In what order all the twelve Apostles were called, does not appear in the narrations of the Evangelists, since not only not the order of the calling, but not even the calling itself of all is mentioned, but only of Philip, and Peter, and Andrew, and of the sons of Zebedy, and of Matthew, the publican, termed also Levi. But Peter was both the first and the only one who separately received a name from Him.”[9] As it may be conjectured from the Gospels that Christ said to Philip first of all, ”Follow Me,” Joh. i. 44, he has the best right to be considered the first called.

Now the two cla.s.ses of facts just mentioned, as to the mode in which the Evangelists speak of Peter in combination with the other Apostles, prove directly and plainly his _Primacy_, while they do not _directly_ prove, save Matthew's t.i.tle of _First_, nor are they here quoted to prove, the _nature_ of that Primacy, which rests, as we have seen, on other and more decisive texts.

At length, then, we have before us the whole evidence of the Gospels, and having considered it piece by piece, may now take a general view. It is time to gather up the several parts of this evidence, and, claiming for each its due force, to present the sum of all before the mind. For distinct and decisive as certain texts appear, and are, even by themselves, yet when they are seen to fit into a whole system, and perfectly to harmonise together, they have much greater power to convince the mind, which really seeks for truth. But moral evidences generally, and especially that which results from a study of the Holy Scripture, is not intended to move a mind in a lower condition than this; a mind, that is, which loves something else better than the truth.

Thus, out of the body of His disciples, we see our Lord choosing Twelve, and again, out of those Twelve, distinguis.h.i.+ng One by the most singular favours. This distinction even begins _before_ the selection of the Twelve, and has its root in the very commencement of our Lord's ministry: for, as we have seen, it was when Andrew first led his brother Simon before Christ, that He ”looked upon him,” and promised him the prophetic name which revealed his Primacy, and his perpetual relation to the Church of G.o.d. The name thus promised is in due time bestowed, and solemnly recorded by the three Evangelists, at the appointment of the Apostles, as the reason why he is invariably set at their head; Matthew, still more distinctly expressing in it his primacy, ”_the first_, Simon, who is called Peter.” And their whole mode of mentioning him, and exhibiting his relation to the other apostles, shews that this Primacy was, when they wrote, ever in their minds. It comes out in the most incidental way, as when Mark writes, ”Simon, and they that were with him, followed after” Christ; or Luke, ”Peter, and they that were with him, said;” as naturally as they write, ”David, and those that were with him:” or of our Lord Himself, and the Apostles, ”those that had been with Him.”[10] Again this preference of Peter is shewn by our Lord, both at the Transfiguration and the Agony: where, even when the two next favoured of the Apostles are a.s.sociated with Him as witnesses, yet there is evidence of Peter's superiority in the mode with which the Evangelists mention him.

Great as the dignity was of the two sons of thunder, they are yet ranged under Peter by Luke, with that same phrase which we have just been considering. ”Peter, and they that were with him were heavy with sleep.” And our Lord, at the agony, says to Peter, ”could not _you_,” that is, all the three, ”watch with Me one hour?”[11] Again, how incidentally, yet markedly, does Matthew shew that this superiority of Peter over others was apparent even to strangers, when he writes, that the officers who collected the tribute for the temple, came to _him_, and said, ”does not _your_ master” (the master of all the Apostles,) ”pay the didrachma?”[12] Much more significant is the incident immediately following, when our Lord orders him to go to the sea, to cast a hook, and to bring up a fish, which shall have a stater in his mouth, adding, ”take that, and give it to them for Me, and for thee:” a token of preference so strong, and of a.s.sociation so singular, that it set the Apostles on the immediate enquiry, who should be the greater among them: the answer to which we will revert to presently.

And this designation of Peter to his high and singular office becomes even more striking, if we contrast what our Lord did and said to him with what He did and said to another Apostle, who _in another way_ is even in some respects preferred to Peter himself.

For ”the disciple whom Jesus loved,” who lay on His breast at supper, to whom was committed at the most sorrowful of all moments the domestic care of the Virgin Mother, has in the affection of our Lord his own unapproachable sphere. But as Peter does not come into compet.i.tion with him here, so neither in another view he with Peter.

His distinction is private, and in the nature of personal affection: Peter's is public, and in the nature of Church government. To one is committed the Mother of the Lord, the living symbol of the Church, the most blessed of all creatures, and that, when her full dignity and blessedness stood at length revealed in the full G.o.dhead of her Son, yet whose throne was intercessory, apart from rule on earth: to the other is committed the Church herself, her champions.h.i.+p in the time of conflict, the rudder of the vessel on the lake, till with Christ it should reach the sh.o.r.e. Each of these, so eminent and unapproachable in his way, has that way apart; and when Peter, on receiving his final commission, turned about and saw his best-loved friend following, and ventured to ask, ”Lord, and what shall this man do?” our Lord replied with something like a reproof, ”what is that to thee? Follow thou Me.” These distinct preferences of the two Apostles were indicated by Tertullian, when he wrote, ”Was anything concealed from Peter, who was named the rock on which the Church should be built, who received the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and the power to bind and loose in heaven and on earth? Was anything, too, concealed from John, the most beloved of the Lord, who lay upon His breast, to whom alone the Lord foresignified the traitor Judas, whom He committed in His own place as Son to Mary?”[13]

But to return. Our Lord, after encompa.s.sing Peter during His whole ministry with such tokens of preference, and a preference specially belonging to his office, and designating it, appears to him first of all the Apostles after His resurrection. And yet all the proofs which we have been here summing up of Peter's pre-eminence, are but collateral and subordinate: though by themselves ten-fold more than any other can claim, yet Peter's authority does not rest _mainly_ on them. And this likewise is true of another cla.s.s of facts concerning Peter, which yet carries with it much force, and when once remarked, never leaves the thoughtful mind. It is his great predominance in the sacred history over the rest of the Twelve. A single incident or expression distinguis.h.i.+ng him, is perhaps all that falls to the lot of another Apostle, as when ”Philip saith unto Him, Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth us;” and the Lord replies, ”Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip?” Or as Thomas, at a moment of danger, ”said to his fellow disciples, Let us also go that we may die with Him.”[14] But Peter's name is wrought into the whole tissue of the Gospel history; he is perpetually approaching the Lord with questions: ”Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? until seven times?” The rest suffer the Lord in silence to wash their feet, but Peter is overcome at the sight. ”Lord, dost Thou wash my feet? Thou shalt never wash my feet;” ”Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.”[15] Thus in the whole New Testament, John, who is yet mentioned oftener than the rest, occurs only thirty-eight times; but in the Gospels alone, omitting the Acts and the Epistles, Peter is mentioned twenty-three times by Matthew, eighteen by Mark, twenty by Luke, and thirty by John.[16] More especially it is the custom of the Evangelists, when they record anything which touches all the Apostles, almost invariably to exhibit Peter as singly speaking for all, and representing all. Thus when Christ asked them all equally, ”But whom say ye that I am? Simon Peter answered and said.” He told them all equally ”That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven,”[17] whereupon ”Peter answering said to Him, Behold, we have left all things, and followed Thee: what therefore shall we have?” And when ”Jesus said to the twelve, Will you also go away?”[18] at once we hear, ”Simon Peter answered and said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.” And a very remarkable occasion occurs where our Lord had been telling to His disciples the parable of the watchful servant, upon which Peter said to Him, ”Lord, dost Thou speak this parable to us, or likewise to all?”[19] And the reply seems by antic.i.p.ation to express the very office which Peter was to hold. ”Who, then, is the faithful and wise steward, whom his lord setteth over his family, to give them their measure of wheat in due season?” Now it looks not like an equal, but a superior, to antic.i.p.ate the rest, to represent them, to speak and act for them. S. Chrysostome drew the conclusion long ago. ”What then says Peter, the mouth-piece of the Apostles?

Everywhere impetuous as he is, the leader of the band of the Apostles, when a question is asked of all, he replies.”[20] No other cause can be a.s.signed for the care of the Evangelists in setting before us so continually his words and acts, in bringing him out, as the second object, after Christ. But though his future place in the Church is a reason for this, and this again, a token of that singular pre-eminence, its decisive proof rests on declarations from our Lord's own mouth, expressly circ.u.mscribed to him, of singular lucidity, and of force which nothing can evade; declarations which set forth, under different but coincident images, a power supreme and without equal, and of its own nature belonging to but one at a time. The proofs which we have hitherto mentioned take away all abruptness from these declarations, and show that they embody a great design which runs all through the Gospel; but the office itself rests upon these, and by these is most clearly and absolutely defined.

Thus, when our Lord, in answer to a great confession of His Apostle, ”Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living G.o.d,” replies, ”and I too, say unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church:” every one must feel how it adds to the cogency of the reply, that the name, which He is explaining, was not the person's natural name, but first promised, and then given, by that same Lord, who now attaches other promises and prophecies to it. This fact serves, among others, to fix the whole which follows to Peter individually, and to introduce what follows, as part of a design, which before had been intimated: for what follows no more belongs to the other Apostles, than the name, Peter, belongs to them: and a name, on the other hand, so promised, and so given, naturally looks, as it were, to such a result. To say solemnly of a man, when first seen, ”Thou art called Simon, but thou shall be called The Rock,”

and to make nothing of him when so called, would be, if ascribed to any one, a dull and pointless thing; but what shall we say, when the speaker is G.o.d? It is a new thing for G.o.d the Word to speak with little meaning, or to speak, and not to do: and so now He does what He had long designed. And what is it that He does? He sets up a governor who is never to be put down. He inaugurates a Church against which h.e.l.l shall rage, but in vain: He establishes a government at which the nations shall rage, the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, for ever, but to their own confusion. He does what He alone could do, and so the answer is worthy of the confession, ”Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living G.o.d.”

”Blessed [21]art thou, Simon Bar-Jonas, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father who is in heaven. _And I, too, say unto thee_, in return for what thou hast said to Me, and to shew, like My Father, My good will towards thee, and what I say, as the Almighty Word of the Father, by My power I fulfil, _that thou art Peter_, the Rock, and so partaker with Me of that honour whereby I am the chief Rock and Foundation; _and upon this Rock_, which I have called thee, _I will build My Church_, which, therefore, with Me for its architect, shall rest on thee, to thee adhere, and from thee derive its conspicuous unity: _and the gates of h.e.l.l_, even all the powers of the enemy, _shall not prevail against it_, nor take that, which, by My G.o.dhead, is established upon thee, but rather yield to it the victory. _And to thee_, whom, as Supreme Architect, I have marked out for the Rock and Foundation of My Church, as King and Lord _I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven_, and the supreme authority over My Church, and will make thee sharer with Me in that dignity, by which I hold the keys of heaven and of earth, _and whatsoever_, in virtue of that authority and as a.s.sociated in My dignity, _thou shalt bind upon earth, shall be bound in heaven_, and there shall be no matter relating to My Church, and the kingdom of heaven, but shall be subject to thy legislative and judicial power, which shall reach the heaven itself: for it is a power at once human, and divine; human, as entrusted to a man, and administered by a man; divine, as a partic.i.p.ation of that right by which I am, in heaven and on earth, Supreme Lawgiver and Judge; _and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, shall be loosed in heaven_.”

Thus it is that the most famous Fathers and Bishops, the most distinguished Councils, the most various nations, have understood our Lord's words, and this is their meaning, according to the fixed laws of grammar, of rhetoric, of philosophy, and of logic, as well as by the testimony of history, and in accordance with the principles of theology. Let us mention certain consequences which follow from them.

These words[22] of Christ are, in the most marked manner, addressed to Peter _only_ among the Apostles, and are, therefore, with their meaning, _peculiar_ to him. And they designate pre-eminence in the government of the Church. They have, therefore, the two qualities which render them a suitable testimony to establish his Primacy among the Apostles.

Now, if persons differ in rank and pre-eminence, they must be considered not equals, but absolutely unequal. And such pre-eminence Peter had, deriving from Christ, the Founder, a superior rank in the Church's ministry. Therefore, the college of the Apostles must be termed absolutely unequal, and all the Apostles, compared with Peter, absolutely unequal.

But as inequality may be manifold, as of age, calling, honour, order, jurisdiction and power, its nature and its degree must be sought in that property which belongs to one over the rest. So that we must determine, by the authority of the Scriptures, from those gifts which were promised to Peter alone, the nature and the degree of that inequality which subsisted between him and the other Apostles.

The gifts promised to Peter alone, are contained in these words of Christ, recorded by Matthew: and therefore, from their nature and inherent qualities, we must judge of the sort, and the extent of inequality, put by Christ between Peter and the rest.

These are summed up in the four following: I. That Peter is the rock, on which the Church was to be built by Christ, the Chief Architect. II. That the impregnable strength which the Church was to have against the gates of h.e.l.l, depended on its union with Peter, as the divinely laid foundation. III. That by Christ, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, Peter is marked out as next to Him, and after Him, the Bearer of the keys in the Church's heavenly kingdom: IV. And that, accordingly, universal power of binding and loosing is promised to him, leaving him responsible to Christ alone, the supreme Lawgiver and Judge. Therefore the nature of the prerogatives expressed in these four terms must be our standard both of the character and degree of inequality between the Apostles and Peter, and of the power of the Primacy promised to Peter.