A good deal of ink has been spilled over this passage. It is part of our lesson for this Sunday. One of the reasons I love being an Anglican is that we have a lectionary with four readings. These readings often play off of each other and shed light on difficult passages. Today’s lectionary readings are a good example of the larger council of Scripture shedding light on a difficult passage.

This passage has been used by one church to suggest that it is the only true church as they trace their roots back to Rome and the apostle Peter. They feel that the church is built upon the person of Peter, the “rock.” During the Reformation, the reformers believed that the church was built upon the confession of Peter or the faith of Peter in his declaration that “Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In typical Anglican fashion, we hold to a combination of both those positions. We believe Apostolic succession is necessary for the formation of the church, but we do not stand simply on an unbroken chain back to a particular apostle. We tend to look at it as a pipeline whose integrity helps maintain the uncorrupted apostolic faith. In other words, we see the apostles as crucial to the church because they were sent by the Son, who was sent by the Father. But we also uphold the confession of Peter that Jesus was the Christ and seek to preserve and teach the importance of faith in the apostolic teaching and preaching.

It is fun to look at this passage in light of the story that follows it. In today’s passage, Jesus declares that Peter is blessed for his declaration and that flesh and blood have not revealed these things to Peter, but rather they were revealed by my Father who is in heaven. In other words, it was not Peter’s personal perception or brilliance that led him to the right answer, but rather the sovereignty of God that was necessary for Peter to make his declaration of faith. Peter’s faith was completely dependent on the Father. And to help Peter avoid getting a swelled head when Peter uses his own mind to tell Jesus how he should accomplish salvation, Jesus cuts him off with the statement, “Get behind me Satan!” Peter moved from being the blessed rock to Satan in the span of one paragraph.

It is helpful to look at our other lessons. The Collect reminds us that the Church “cannot continue in safety without God’s help.” Isaiah reminds us that “God’s salvation has gone out, his arm will judge the peoples.” —Isaiah 51:5 “The earth will wear out like a garment, but my salvation will be forever.” —Isaiah 51:6  Paul’s letter to the Romans reminds us that, “From him and through him and to him are all things.”  — Romans 11:36 The tenth and eleventh chapters of Romans are all about the mystery of the gentiles being grafted onto the root established in Abraham, but also of the Jews being grafted back onto that root after the full number of gentiles is brought in.

The Jews had become arrogant and believed their heritage in Abraham was enough to save them. They trusted in their own form of “apostolic succession” by being in the chosen race. They forgot the importance of faith. John the Baptist reminded them that God could raise up children of Abraham from the rocks. —Matthew 3:9 The importance of Abraham was his faith in God. “And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord declared him righteous because of his faith.” —Genesis 15:6 Paul drives the importance of faith home in chapter ten of Romans, “Salvation comes from trusting Christ” —Romans 10:8 “For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” —Romans 10:9

The key to being grafted onto the root of Abraham is faith and trust in the salvation of God and in the work of Christ upon the cross. There is nothing we can boast in. As a matter of fact, arrogance and pride act as saws to cut us off from the true vine. Paul states, “Be careful not to brag about being grafted in to replace the branches that were broken off. Remember that you are just a branch, not the root.” —Romans 10:18 Our Psalm today reminds us that “God has respect for the lowly, as for the proud, he beholds them from afar.” —Psalm 138:6 When pride sets in we lose faith in the salvation of God and begin to trust in our own abilities.

This is a challenging season in the life of our country. Plagues, civil unrest, and elections seem to drive us to look for earthly saviors and to trust in our own strength and understandings. I believe our best way forward is to fill our hearts with humility. We should seek to strengthen our faith and trust in the Lord’s goodness, strength, and salvation alone. All our solutions will only vanish like smoke and wear out like a garment, but the salvation of God will be forever.

 †Bp. Mark