by the Lord after the resurrection, as we had it read to us, and he said to him,
SERMON 229P
ON PETER'S LOVE
Date: after 4121
The Church is built upon the rock of Peter's confession of faith
1. The events that occurred after the Lord's resurrection are being read according to the evangelist John. Among them we had today's reading of how the Lord questioned the apostle Peter on whether he loved him more than the rest.2 Remember, in this man Peter, the rock.3 He's the one, you see, who on being questioned by the Lord about who the disciples said he was, replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. On hearing this, Jesus said to him, Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jona, because flesh and blood did not reveal it to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you—as though to say, "You have told me, I'm telling you"; what?—You are Peter, Rocky, and on this rock I shall build my Church, and the gates of the underworld will not conquer her.
To you shall I give the keys of the kingdom. Whatever you bind on earth shall also be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth shall also be loosed in heaven (Mt 16:15-19). In Peter, Rocky, we see our attention drawn to the rock. Now the apostle Paul says about the former people, They drank from the spiritual rock that was following them;* but the rock was Christ (1 Cor 10:4). So this disciple is called Rocky from the rock, like Christian from Christ.
Why have I wanted to make this little introduction? In order to suggest to you that in Peter the Church is to be recognized. Christ, you see, built his Church not on a man but on Peter's confession. What is Peter's confession? You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. There's the rock for you, there's the foundation, there's where the Church has been built, which the gates of the underworld cannot conquer. What can the gates of the underworld be, but the pride of the heretics?
Peter three times confesses his love of the one whom he had three times denied
2. So this Peter, playing the great part I have suggested to you, is questioned by the Lord after the resurrection, as we had it read to us, and he said to him,