23rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

“If your brother sins [against you]...."

Mt18:15-20

This passage explains how Christians are to fulfill the teaching in what has gone before (18:10-14). There a parable has been told of the sheep that has gone astray. How to bring back the lost sheep is explained beginning with the words: “If your brother sins….” The issue here is not forgiveness but the sin of one member of the community. Every effort is to be made to bring the erring brother to repentance: first in private, then before a few, finally before the whole assembly of disciples. If he is still unrepentant, he must be excluded from the assembly of the new Israel. The decision of the Church will be the decision of God: as he inspires them in making the decision, so he will honor it; and Christ himself will be with them, guiding them and directing them.

v. 15. “If your brother sins [against you], go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother.

Your brother: another member of the Christian community.

Against you: This should probably be omitted as in some of the most important manuscripts.

If he listens to you: If he pays attention to and acts upon what is said by repentance. Behind this verse lies an OT passage which was frequently quoted by the first Christians: “You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason with [same word in Greek as “tell him his faults” in this verse] your neighbor, lest you bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord (Lev 19:17f). Matthew will refer to this passage again in 5:43; 19:19; 22:39.

v. 16. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that ‘every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’

If a private rebuke fails, then, before the matter is brought before the Church, it must be heard before one or two others, in fulfillment of another passage in the OT (Dt 19:15).

v. 17. If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.

The church: See also 16:18. Here presumably the local congregation. If the sinner refuses to listen (that is, to repent), he is to be treated as a Gentile and a tax collector, that is, he is to be excommunicated from the congregation. A Gentile, because the Church is the new Israel, and so those who are not members of it are now Gentiles. A tax collector because tax collectors were excluded from the old Israel by their trade and their uncleanness.

See also 5:46f for the two words in the same context.

v. 18. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

Bind and loose: Here they may mean being banished from the community and recall to it. Josephus in “Jewish Wars” uses the words in this way.

“In heaven” means “with God”: God will stand by the decision of the Church.

v. 19. Again, [amen,] I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.

The idea of the relationship between earth and heaven, the Church and God, continues in this verse. The prayer of two who are in agreement will be heard and answered by God, just as the decisions of the Church are his decisions.

v. 20. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

Two or three: See v. 16. Even where there are only two or three gathered to-gether as Christians (in my name, cf. v. 5), Jesus is present with them.

The Jews had a similar saying: “Rabbi Hanina ben Teradion said: ‘When two sit and there are not between them words of Torah, lo, this is ‘the seat of the scornful’, as it is said: ‘Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful’. But when two sit, and there are between them words of Torah, the Shechinah (that is, the presence of God) rests betweenthem….”

22nd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me

Mt 16:21-27

v. 21. 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.

“From that time on” marks a new phase in the Gospel; from now until the end of the book there will be a new emphasis on the death and resurrection of Jesus and on his teaching on this (cf. 17:9. 12. 22f; 20:18f. 28; 21:38f; 26:2).

“He must go to Jerusalem”: Behind this necessity (must) is the will of God ex-pressed in Scriptures. See 3:15 and 26:54.

“The elders, the chief priests, and the scribes”: They constitute the Sanhedrin, the supreme court of the Jews in Jerusalem.

“On the third day”: Matthew is more precise that Mark’s “after three days” (Mk 8:31).

v. 22. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”

Peter, who acted as spokesman of the disciples in the previous paragraph, in which he had declared Jesus’ Messiaship, now acts as spokesman in declaring he does not believe in the necessity for the Messiah’s death and resurrection.

v. 23. 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.”

Matthew has softened Mark’s “he rebuked Peter” (Mk 8:33).

“Get behind me, Satan”: The same expression is found at the end of the Temptation in the wilderness (Mt 4:10). To oppose God’s will is to be an agent of Satan.

Obstacle is “skandalon” (stumbling-block). It is he who cause others to sin, that is, a teacher of wickedness. (13:41).

“You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”: The literal translation is “You are not intent upon God’s affairs, but upon men’s.” And therefore, a more accurate paraphrase would be: “For you are not on the side of God but of men.”
To be on the side of men is to be opposed to God and that would be the same as being on the side of Satan. See 12:30.

v. 24. Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.

“Whoever wishes to come after me”: The meaning is “whoever desires to” or “whoever wants to”.

“Deny himself”: The same word is used of Peter denying Jesus (26:34f. 75). A similar word is used in 10:33; 26:70ff.

It is clear that the word means “to disown somebody” or “to disclaim any connection with somebody”.
The cost of discipleship is therefore, the breaking of every link which ties a man to himself. See 1Cor 6:19.

“Take up his cross and follow me.”: The Romans crucified rebels and the world will execute those who go over to the other side (see v. 23).

The first mention of taking up the cross is found in 10:38. There worthiness of Jesus involves willingness to give up honor and life.

v. 25. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

“For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it.”:There is no possibility of be-ing both a disciple and preserving one’s life. Those who want to save their lives will not enter the kingdom, but will be condemned at the judgment.

“Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”: The disciple who follows Je-sus will lose his life for his sake but will have it restored at the resurrection and judgment.
For many disciples this meant martyrdom.

v. 26. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?

Gaining the whole world may also be found in the last temptation of Jesus (4:8f). Regarding the blessings of poverty, see 5:3.

Gain in this age; loss in the age to come. Poverty in this age; riches in the age to come.

“What can one give in exchange for his life?”: This is a proverb and it means “a man’s life is more valuable to him than anything else. Therefore, it is worth his while to lose anything, if by this means he gains his life; and the paradox is that he must lose his life in order to gain it.

v. 27. For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct.

The reason why the disciple must act in this way is because Jesus, who speaks of himself here as the Son of Man, is coming in glory, with his angels, to repay every man for what he has done (an allusion to Ps 62:12).
See also 13:41ff.

21ST SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

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.

Mt 16:13-20

v. 13. When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi* he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

Philip, the son of Herod the Great (2:1) and the half-brother of Archelaus (2:22) and Antipas (14:1), ruled over the district north and east of Galilee from the death of his father (2:19) in 4 BC until his own death in AD 34.

He is mentioned in this gospel at 14:3. He rebuilt Paneas and called it Caesarea in honor of the emperor; and Philippi to distinguish it from the sea-port also called Caesarea.

While in Mark the questions was: “Who do men say that I am?”, in Matthew it is “Who do men say that the Son of man is?”

Matthew has used “the Son of man” not as the title of a peson other than Jesus, but as Jesus’ description of himself (8:20); in this gospel, it has almost ceased to be a title, and become a name in the same way that Christ became another name for Jesus and ceased to be used as a title of his office.

v. 14. They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

Some say John the Baptist: Herod Antipas had said this (14:2).

Others Elijah: If John the Baptist was believed to be Elijah returnd from heaven (11:14 and 17:10ff), and if Jesus was believed to be John resurrected, then he would in fact be Elijah.

Jeremiah has been added by Matthew and thee is some evidence that some Jews expected Jeremiah (and other prophets) to return at the end of the world.

v. 15. He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

In Greek the word “you” is emphatic (hymeis de), and contrasts the opinions of men (vv. 13f) with the faith of the disciples which is based on divine revelation (v. 17).

v. 16. Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

The Christ is a title, the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah”, meaning “anointed” and thus “king”. Matthew has aleady used it in the genealogy (1:1 and 16f), and in 1:18 and 11:2. It is equivalent to “King of the Jews” in the mouth of Herod (2:4).

Its use by Peter marks a new step in the revelation of Jesus, but iti not to be made known until after his resurrection (v. 20).

Matthew has added “the Son of the living God”, a title which he had put into the mouth of the disciples at 14:33. See also 2:15; 3:17; 4:3. 6; 8:29; 27:40. 43. 54.

v. 17. 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.

Peter’s answer shows that he a recipient of divine revelation. Cf. 11:25f where Jesus says that the Father reveals the coming of the Kingdom “to babes”. Peter is, therefore, the object of the Father’s gracious will, and is therefore “blessed” (5:3ff; 11:6; 13:16; 24:46).

Simon is a Greek name; the disciple’s Jewish name was Simeon, but Matthew does not use this form (contrast Acts 15:14).

Bar-Jona means son of Jonah; Simon’s father is mentioned by name again in the NT only in the fourth Gospel (Jn 1:42; 21:15ff).

Flesh and blood means man over against God, man in his weakness, and without the help and inspiration of the Spirit; e.g. Paul says that after his conversion “he did not confer with flesh and blood”, i.e. with “mere men” (Gal 1:16).

v. 18. 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.

“You are Peter (Petros)”: There is no evidence that anyone had the name Peter before Christian times, either in its Greek form or in Aramaic (Cephas). In fact it is not a name at all, but a nickname, and it should really be translated “Rock”.

There are a number of examples in the OT of people receiving a new name which will describe their future life; e. g. “no longer shall your name be Abram (that is, exalted father), but your name shall be Abraham (here taken to mean father of a multitude); for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations (Gn 17:5).

“And on this rock I will build my church: The pun on the words Peter and rock goes back into Aramaic, Kepha and Kephas. For the idea of building upon rock, see 7:24f. Simon, to whom God has revealed who Jesus is, will be the foundation of the church which Jesus is to build.

The future tense, “I will build”, looks forward to the time after the crucifixion, when the disciples will be sent out to baptize and to teach (28:19f). For the idea of the new Israel as made from a rock, compare Is 51:1f and the rabbinic comment on this: “When God looked upon Abraham who was to arise, he said, ‘Behold, I have found a rock on which I can build and found the world’.

“My church” (mou ten ekklesian): The Greek word used here had been used in the Greek translation of the OT for “the people”, “the assembly”, “the congregation”.

The community of the disciples of Jesus is, therefore, to be the true Israel, the “children of Abraham” (3:9).
Aramaic scholars do not agree what Aramaic word lied behind the Greek translation in Matthew, but one of the suggestions is the word “kenishta’” which could be used both fo the Church as a whole (ekklesia) and for the local congregation (synagoge, synagogue).

“And the power of death shall not prevail against it”: The purpose of the building upon a rock in the parable at the end of Chapter 7 was to ensure the permanence of the house (7:24f); in much the same way here, the Church which is to be built upon the rock will withstand “the powers of death”, a phrase which is literally “the gates of Hades” and means that Hades, the place of the dead, cannot close its gates to imprison the members of Jesus’ congregation, the new Israel. In Chapter 10 Jesus promised that they will share in his sufferings (10:38), now he promises that they will share in his resurrection.

v. 19. 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.”

“I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven”: The kingdom is here pictured as a place to be entered, as in 7:21. See also 7:13f where the narrow gate leads to life, that is, the kingdom. Peter is, therefore, given authority to admit, or refuse admittance, to the kingdom. “The kingdom of heaven” is not used here as an equivalent for the Church, but the Church is the community of those who wait and pray for the coming of the kingdom (6:10).

“Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven”: There are two equally possible meanings of binding and loosing: (1) Laying down rules and granting exemption from rules; and (2) condemning and acquitting, i.e. the power to forgive sins which Jesus claimed in 9:6, and now grants to Peter also. Both interpretations mean much the same in the end: Peter has authority in the Church to make pronouncements (whether legislative or disciplinary) which will be ratified at the last judgment. Much the same authority had been given to all the Twelve in 10:13-15. See also 18:18; Jn 20:23.

“In heaven”: here is a periphrasis for “in the sight of God”; and the future tenses (shall be bound and shall be loosed) refer t to the last judgment.

v. 20. Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah.

The command to keep silence is frequent in Mark. Matthew retains a few of them but omits the majority (9:30; 12:16; 16:20; 17:9).

20TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.

Mt 15:21-28

Before this incident there was the question of what defiles? In this section, the subject is the relation between Jews and Gentiles. The connection between the two sections is the belief of the Jews that Gentiles are a cause of defilement for them. This is the reason why Jews keep themselves separate from the Gentiles. Jesus Christ has broken down this dividing wall which enabled the Church to accept Gentiles on equal footing with the Jews (Eph 2:11-22).The incident in today’s gospel reading looks forward to that time when this will happen.

It is also possible that this story of the Gentile woman was being circulated among Christians when the debate regarding the admission of Gentiles into the Church was raging. Certain details seem to confirm this.

• The disciples asks Jesus to send the Gentile woman away much as some Jewish Christians had opposed preaching to the Gentiles and contact with them (Acts 11:1ff).
• Matthew reports Jesus as saying that he was sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. This may support those who say that Jesus himself had not gone outside Israel during his ministry.
• There is a delay between the coming of the woman and the granting of her request. This delay corresponds to the interval between the ministry of Jesus and the time when Gentiles were admitted into the Church.

v. 21. Then Jesus went from that place and withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.

Withdrew is a favorite word of Matthew. He uses it when the rejection of God’s word in one place leads to the preaching of it in another place (4:12). In this section, the use of the word may point to the future when the rejection of the good news by the Jews leads to its offer to the Gentiles as personified by the Gentile woman.

Tyre and Sidon are on the coast of the Mediterranean sea and it is the farthest north that Jesus is said to have gone. The two towns have been mentioned before in 11:21f.

v. 22. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon."

Mark describes the woman as “Greek, Syrophoenician by birth”. There is some evidence to show that Canaan and Canaanite were used of Phoenicia and also of the countryside as opposed to the Greek towns.

The woman was not only a Gentile. She was a Canaanite and these were the ancestral enemies of the Jews. Even at the time of Josephus, he could assert: “Of the Phoenicians, the Tyrians have the most ill-feeling towards us.”

Jesus is frequently addressed as Lord in Matthew’s gospel. Son of David is also a characteristic title of Jesus in this gospel (1:1).

v. 23. But he did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him, "Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us."

“Send her away” may either mean “dismiss her” or “Do what she asks and so let her go away”. The latter is probably what is meant.

v. 24. He said in reply, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

Jesus has given the same command to the Twelve in 10:6.

Matthew sees the time before the crucifixion as the time when the Gospel is offered to the Jews and the time after the Resurrection as the time for preaching to the Gentiles (28:19).

v. 26. He said in reply, "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs."

The children are the Jews, God’s people; the dogs are the gentiles. The Jews used to call the Gentiles dogs and the Christians, claiming to be the true Jews, in turn called the unbelieving Jews dogs (Phil 3:2f).

The Greek used for dogs was “kunaria” which is the diminutive of dogs. The word is not used for street dogs (askal in Pilipino) but of the household pets and this is why the woman could say what she did in v. 27.

Bread is used here as a symbol of salvation as in the feeding miracles (14:13ff and 15:32ff).

See also 7:6.

v. 27. She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters."

The faith of the woman is heightened by the admission that the Jews are mastes over the Gentiles.

v. 28. Then Jesus said to her in reply, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed from that hour.

We see the woman’s faith in her address to Jesus. She began with “Son of David” which was a popular but political title. She sees Jesus as possessing only earthly power. But she ended by calling him “Lord”, a divine title.

In v. 25 “homage” may also be translated as “falling on one’s knees” and “worship”. “Worship is an act of faith.“Falling on her knees” is a posture of prayer. She began with a request and ended with a prayer.

Compare the words of Jesus to that which he uttered to the Gentile centurion in 8:13.

19th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (A)

Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

Mt 14:22-33

JESUS WALKS ON THE SEA

The emphasis here is the separation of the disciples from Jesus and their terror and fear which are not removed until Jesus miraculously comes to them. The signficance of the story for the Church may have been that although Jesus is apparently separated from the, since the crucifixion, yet he is praying for them, and will come to them again as the Son of man; they are to take heat and have no fear, although they are beaten by waves of persecution.

v. 22. Then he made the disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.

Jesus compelled his disciples to leave. Why? Jn 6:15 gives us a clue. After the miraculous multiplication of the bread, the crowd wanted to take him by force and make him king. The disciples were also at that point thinking of Jesus as king in terms of earthly power. Their presence may complicate things further. It was best that he handle this potentially explosive situation alone.

v. 23. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When it was evening he was there alone.

The other references to the mountain in Matthew may be found in 4:8; 5:1; 15:29; 17:1. 9. 20; 28:16.

Interestingly it is only here and at Gethsemane (26:16ff) that Matthew says that Jesus prayed.

vv. 25-26. During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. "It is a ghost," they said, and they cried out in fear.

The Romans divided the time between 6pm and 6am into four equal period called watches: 6pm to 9pm, 9pm to 12am, 12am to 3am and 3am to 6am. The event occurred at 3am. They could see each other because the moon would probably be full.

In verse 25 it says that Jesus was walking on the sea. The Greek is “epi ten thalassan” which may be translated in two ways: “over the sea” and “towards the sea”.

In verse 26 it says that the disciples saw Jesus walking “on the sea”. The Greek is “epi tes thalasses” which is translated as “on the sea”. But Jn 21:1 uses the same phrase to mean “by the sea shore”.

The event may, therefore, be understood in two ways. The first is that Jesus ac-tually walked on the water. This would be a miraculous feat. The other is that Jesus walked through the surf (not on the water) and came so suddenly upon the disciples that they were scared to death upon seeing him.

PETER’S DOUBT AND HIS RESTORATION

The Church for which Matthew wrote had a particular reverence for Peter as the first of the apostles and the rock on which the Church is built (10:2 and 16:18). Nevertheless, this reverence did not prevent Matthew from presenting Peter’s denial of Jesus during the Passion (26:29ff). Here also Matthew presents Peter as a man of little faith, a doubter. Peter’s failure here and his restoration may be an anticipation of Peter’s failure during the Passion and his restoration after the Resurrection.

v. 28. Peter said to him in reply, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water."

Peter asks Jesus’ permission to do what Jesus is doing; in the Passion he will also attempt to follow Jesus (26:58).

v. 30. But when he saw how (strong) the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"

Compare Peter’s fear, fall and cry with his denials of Jesus and weeping (26:69ff).

v. 31. Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"

Jesus restores Peter but also reproves him. Little faith (6:30; 8:26; 16:8; and 17:20) and doubt (28:17) are favorite Matthean expressions.

Peter’s restoration after the Resurrection is not recorded in Matthew. This episode may have been intended to fill that gap.

For other evidence of Peter’s restoration, see 1Cor 15:5 and Mk 16:7 and Jn 21:15ff.

v. 32. After they got into the boat, the wind died down.

In 8:23ff Jesus had already revealed himself as Lord over the winds and the sea by commanding them to obey him.

v. 33. Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, "Truly, you are the Son of God."

The confession of faith of the disciples is similar to that of the centurion after the death of Jesus (Mk 15:39).

“Did him homage” = “worshipped him” = “knelt before him”.

Worship is another favorite word of Matthew. It will be used twice in his last chapter for the worship of the women and of his disciples after the Resurrection (28:9 and 17).

It may be found in 2:2. 8. 11; 4:9. 10; 9:18; 14:33; 15:25; 18:26; 20:20; 28: 9. 17.