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Thursday – Eighteenth Week – OT2
Readings: Jer 31:31-34; Mt 16:13-23.
Reading 1 (Jer 31:31-34):
The days are coming, says the LORD,
when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers:
the day I took them by the hand
to lead them forth from the land of Egypt.
for they broke my covenant,
and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.
But this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD.
I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts.
I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relatives
how to know the LORD.
All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD,
for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more. people,
the remnant of Israel.
Gospel (Mt 16:13-23):
Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi
and he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,
still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter said in reply,
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.
For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.
And so, I say to you, you are Peter,
and upon this rock I will build my Church,
and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.
I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.
Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;
and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Then he strictly ordered his disciples
to tell no one that he was the Christ.
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples
that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly
from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.
Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him,
“God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”
He turned and said to Peter,
“Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.
You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
Fr. Anthony Dinh Minh Tien, O.P.
I. THEME: The covenant between God and human beings.
A covenant is established due to the agreements of both parties about something they have to keep; for examples: the covenant of matrimony or the religious vow, etc. If one party violates by not keeping his promise, the covenant is no longer effective. Today readings mention the covenant between God and His people.
II. ANALYSIS:
1/ Reading I: The differences between the Old and the New Covenants
1.1/ The Old Covenant: was established on the Sinai Mountain when God, through Moses, led the Israelites out of Egypt and brought them into the Promise Land. God promises that if the Israelites are loyal to Him by keeping His law, they shall be His people and He shall protect them from the hands of their enemies.
But the Israelites destroyed this covenant by repeatedly violated His law as the prophet Jeremiah declared in today reading: “for they broke my covenant and I had to show myself their master.” They weren’t faithful to worship God when they chased after foreign gods and worshipped them. They didn’t keep His commandments by living an immoral life.
1.2/ The New Covenant: Instead of letting them die in their sins, God chose to establish a New Covenant as He declared: “The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them forth from the land of Egypt.”
Here are the contents of the New Covenant: “This is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will place my law within them and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer will they have need to teach their friends and kinsmen how to know the Lord. All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the Lord, for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.”
2/ Gospel: The New Covenant was established between Jesus and his Church through Peter.
2.1/ “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” There are two places called Caesarea in Israel. The first one called Caesar Maritime which lies along the Mediterranean Sea, and the second one called Caesar Philippi because it is located in the region which belonged to the Tetrarch Philip, one of Herod’s three children. This place is located about twenty-five miles from the Galilee Sea toward the northeast, near to boundary with Syria, and is called Banias today. This is a region which is different with all other places in Israel. The first difference is that water is everywhere because it lies at the foot of the Hermon Mountain; when the snow of this mountain melts, the water flows to here and forms the top source of the Jordan river before flowing into the Galilee Sea.
This is also the center of many religions because of its mysterious atmosphere. The authors of Psalm 42:6 and 133:3 reminds all the Jews to remember God when they come to this region because the Jordan river is very important of their life. It is God’s blessing for people because they can’t live without it. There were about fourteen altars here. There were altars of the Syrian gods because they lived here before. It had also the altar of Pan, the Greek’s god of nature, when the Greek dominated this region. Beside this altar is a giant cave, on the top is a mountain, under it is a deep cave full of water. On other side, Philip built a giant temple, made by white marble to honor the emperor Caesar. Standing before this mysterious center with many different altars, people shall be confused, and a question might come to their mind: What is the truth? What God is the true one?
Jesus posed out two questions for his disciples and expected them to give him their answers. Moreover, his two main missions in the world are: First, to reveal to people all what God wants them to know; and secondly, to train his disciples to continue his mission on earth. Now is the important moment because he is about going to Jerusalem in order to die and to finish his mission on earth. He needs to find out if his disciples understand his mission, and especially his identity before they could continue his mission.
Therefore, he began by asking them the first question: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” The Tetrarch Herod Antipas called Jesus as John Baptist who is resurrected from death (Mt 14:2). When people called Jesus as the prophet Elijah, they partly recognized his power and importance because the Jewish tradition believes Elijah isn’t died yet and he shall return before the Messiah’s coming (Mal 4:5). They still reserve a seat for him in the synagogue when they celebrate the Passover. Similarly, when they called Jesus as Jeremiah, they also believe that he shall come before the Messiah’s coming. The Jewish tradition believes that Jeremiah came to the Jerusalem temple before the exile to Babylon, took the tent, the ark, and the altar of incense and hid them on Nebo Mountain. He shall come back to reproduce these things so that God shall continue to present with His people (cf. 2 Mac 2:1-12). When people called Jesus as the prophet Elijah or Jeremiah, they didn’t believe Jesus as the Messiah, just as a herald to prepare for the Messiah to come. If Jesus’ disciples also believed as such, Jesus’ mission shall be failed.
2.2/ Jesus’ true identity: The decisive moment came, Jesus said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.”
Christ, Christos in Greek and Messiah in Hebrew, means the Anointed One to be a king whom all the Israelites are expecting. This is the answer which Jesus is expecting from his disciples; but Jesus wanted to let Peter know the reason why he knew what people didn’t know, that is: because he was revealed by Jesus’ heavenly Father. This reason was also confirmed by Paul: “no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 12:3).
Since Peter represented all apostles to declare Jesus’ true identity, Jesus can be at peace because he shall have his successors to continue what he started. Jesus established the New Covenant with the Church through Peter: “And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you lose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah.”
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
This happened to Peter because even though he knew Jesus’ true identity, but as also many contemporary Jews, he thought Jesus shall use his divine power to conquer all nations. To him, the Messiah who must go through suffering and the cross to save people is impossible to happen.
III. APPLICATION IN LIFE:
– To be loyal to the covenant is the primary condition to be protected by God.
– People can teach us about God, but to recognize and to believe in Christ require our relationship with him and the Father and the Holy Spirit’s help.